BTW Jeff, could you recommend any introductions to Hellenistic astrology? I have tried a few resources in the past but found it difficult to put together all the pieces. Indeed! This book is what you need: http://www.hellenisticastrology.com/book/ I highly recommend it. In addition to explaining th...

You probably give examples in the rest of the paper, but if not, the Ten Stages Sutra in the Fifth Stage section there is this (Cleary 739): Definitely! I cite that text and passage. The truth is that Mahāyāna jumped on a trend by encouraging its adherents to study worldly sciences. The stigma agai...

But why is some of it "under embargo" and what does that mean? Never heard of that before. It means that some of the content in those chapters is officially published elsewhere, such as in articles. That means the article is the first public presentation of the relevant work, rather than the disser...

Congratulations. Thanks! Didn't read it yet, but curious if you looked at Kalachakra astrology too? In the dissertation, I briefly mention it, since its calendar's epoch of 806 is identical to what we find a Chinese text from the early- to mid-ninth century. I discuss the Kālacakra in more detail i...

Greetings everyone. I would like to let everyone know that my PhD dissertation, or about 80% of it, is available online: https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/54858 In a nutshell, my study documents the Buddhist practice of astrology first in India, and then in China, where it really took off...

If you're not independently wealthy or have a reliable source of income that you can earn remotely (translation for example), then the biggest obstacle will be financial. Some monks have sponsors, but unless they're very reliable people long-term, you might have to go around requesting assistance fr...

I understand, but this is a very touchy issue that is also being discussed among some western Shinto practitioners. This line of thought by Rev. Indrajala can actually bar many people from exploring this kind of spirituality. When actually, we have examples of native faiths being exported and assim...

Admin_PC, I don't think learning Japanese is as difficult as you make it sound. If someone just wants to read Japanese, then gaining literacy does not require learning keigo or even conversational Japanese (it is highly recommend that you gain some spoken Japanese, but it isn't necessary). A lot of ...

The benefit of Japanese would seem to be that any works relevant to my tradition likely have been translated into that language. The downside is that the language seems inscrutably foreign and I would have no native speakers available to assist me in my endeavor. You can always sign up for online l...

History is a kind of consciousness. Not an objective recitation of facts. It can never be entirely objective, but you can approach the study of the past scientifically, gathering and evaluating evidence to support a thesis. Philology is useful in this regard as one can compare and contrast textual ...

A followup question: Are there monks in Japan who still follow the full monastic vinaya? There are missionary Theravada monks teaching in Japan, so technically "yes". Otherwise, it would be up to the 6 Nara schools or the Obaku school and as far as I can tell none of them still practice it. Maybe I...

There's nothing stopping you from picking up Tibetan literature in translation and reading it until you have the opportunity to study under someone. You could also start to study Classical Tibetan, which would facilitate your study of Tibetan Buddhism.

So if you have done a solitary retreat I would be curious to hear about what your diet was like and how it treated you? I was in the Himalayas, so I craved rich foods. High fat foods are best as they nourish the body and keep your brain optimally functioning. They also keep your appetite regulated....

Alexander Duncan compared certain aspects of Buddhist cosmology to the Tree of Life in Kabbalah, though this may or may not be somewhat contrived. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fSXBhutn-U (Chart introduced at 5:30) It's nevertheless an interesting idea. Remember that Jewish traditions are rooted...

With respect to the concept of 'buddhahood in a single lifetime' and some of the history behind it, something I wrote here might be of interest... http://huayanzang.blogspot.com/2016/05/buddhahood-and-early-mandala.html Edit: If you like that, see the following as well (gives some dates to keep in m...

Thanks, Indrajala - I've downloaded the travel book and look forward to reading it. Has anyone compared it, I wonder, to Marco Polo's travels? I don't know if anyone has compared it like that. Marco Polo went to Mongol China. :smile: There is another, much shorter, travelogue to India by the Korean...